Veteran backstop Sandy León made his first appearance in MLB since 2023, after spending much of the year as the third catcher on Atlanta Braves’ organizational depth chart.
How acquired
León was well-traveled
when Atlanta signed him on April 2, 2024 after he failed to make the Kansas City Royals roster. He’d played in more than 550 games for six different big league teams since making his debut with the Washington Nationals in 2012, having appeared at the MLB level every subsequent season until 2024.
León spent 2024 at Triple-A with Atlanta and returned in 2025 as a veteran mentor at Gwinnett.
What were the expectations?
León was expected to help Drake Baldwin continue his development as a catcher in 2025 at Triple-A while also helping guide a pitching staff and serving as the fourth or fifth catcher on the Braves depth chart.
As it turned out, Sean Murphy’s Spring Training injury opened the door for Baldwin to make the big league roster; Murphy’s return sent presumptive backup Chadwick Tromp to the waiver wire. That Braves added long-time big leaguer James McCann late in Spring Training and traded for Jason Delay — who was actually on the 40-man roster for much of the year — but when McCann moved on for a 26-man roster spot in Arizona, it was León who was called-up to add a third catcher to Atlanta’s bench, and then again when Murphy was lost for the season due to (finally) acknowledging his hip issue in September.
Performance-wise, there was no expectation at all, because León is one of many big league catchers who are basically there for mentorship and intangibles rather than production. Aside from a massive xwOBA overperformance that led to 1.9 fWAR in 283 PAs back in 2016, Leon has never posted more than 0.5 fWAR in a season, and was below replacement in every season going back to 2020. He has a career 56 wRC+ and hasn’t been a useful pitch framer since 2019. So, unless you were really banking on him carrying forward his 151 wRC+ from Spring Training 2025, he was expected to do basically nothing on the field.
2025 results
León saw action in five games, twice as a late-game replacement in blowout losses as the team’s third catcher, and three starts in September after Murphy hit the IL.
His line in 12 plate appearances was .083/.083/.333 with a home run, three RBI and run scored. His stat page now looks kind of funny: he had a 1 wRC+ in 2025 after a 2 wRC+ in 2023. His last six major league seasons (well, parts thereof) have all been below-replacement.
What went right?
The 36-year-old, who was credited by Baldwin for helping his development in 2024, got multiple stints with Atlanta during the season. The highlight was his first big league home run since 2021 when he hit a two-run home run against the Houston Astros off former Braves reliever Craig Kimbrel.
That homer capped the scoring in an 8-3 Braves win, but amusingly, Leon also drove in the go-ahead run earlier in the game with a fielder’s choice that turned into a fielding error, which was actually his highest-WPA play of the season.
What went wrong?
Given his role and expectations coming into 2025, it is tough to consider anything went wrong for León, despite his second straight season of being unable to hit, even at Triple-A (69 wRC+ in 2024, 59 in 2025). He wasn’t there for his offensive output, as the well-regarded catcher has been lauded for his future potential as a coach.
His last start of the year was brutal, not that it mattered (also because the Braves swept the Tigers in the series in which this start happened). He went 0-for-4 in what ended up being a very close game, and struck out with the tying and go-ahead run on base in the ninth with one out. Fortunately for him and the Braves, Nacho Alvarez Jr. and Jurickson Profar combined to add a couple of knocks that turned what was a 5-4 deficit when León struck out into an eventual 6-5 win.
2026 outlook
One of the oddities earlier this off-season was León’s reported resigning with the Braves on a minor league contract after being outrighted off the 40-man roster. The Braves’ official transaction page lists his re-signing on October 7, 2025, but in the days following, several Braves beat writers indicated that he did not re-sign.
If he does come back with Atlanta, he’d likely serve in a role similar to the one he has had the past two seasons as a respected veteran catcher the team can have a Triple-A who provides mentorship and break-glass-in-case-of-catching-emergency depth.
With Murphy’s return to the 2026 Opening Day roster clouded by his recovery from surgery and speculation he could be traded, the Braves were proactive in accumulating other types of catching depth, with Chuckie Robinson added before the end of the regular season and Austin Nola added as a minor league free agent in October.
If the León’s re-signing isn’t valid, then he might get a similar offer to head into Spring Training with another organization as a depth option in the upper minors where he could bestow his knowledge and experience on younger talent. He’s certainly not around for what he’s going to do production-wise on the field, though maybe he goes off in Spring Training again.
